Ok. So I haven't been having the best of weeks lately. So, I decide on Friday that the only thing that'll cure that is to take the neglected Green Mistress for a ride and make us both feel better. However, the boss stops by and says, "Matt, Tom invited us out to his farm to hunt deer on Saturday". I kind of hesitated, torn between hunting and riding. What pushed me over the edge was that in Tom's county we can use rifles. So, I dusted off the 30.06 and decided to go.
I linked up with my boss at his house around 0430 for the hour long drive out to Tom's farm. Now a little background here. Tom's farm is like Valhalla for all the hunters in the hospital. He usually fills his four tags in the first couple of weeks of deer season and doesn't let anyone hunt out there. Tom's not really been deer hunting lately (getting geared up for duck season), but needed to prune down the doe population on the farm. So he asked us to come out and take a couple of does (only one of two any sex deer days). I asked him if bucks were ok, he said yes, but would perfer does. No problem, I'm not picky meat is meat. Ok. So we got on the road around five and headed that way. We link up with Tom at his barn and everyone points out where their going. Tom decides to put me in a permanant deer stand on the edge of a swamp and what he called a creek (I'll get to that in a moment). I shrug and say no problem. We all head off to our assigned areas. After wandering around for a while, I find my spot and climb the ladder. When I get to the top I hear the stand strart to groan and see nails coming out. I rapidly head for the ground and decide that perhaps ground hunting would be better, meanwhile cursing myself for not packing in my climbing stand. The sky starts to turn rosey and from down creak I hear turkey, ducks and then what sounded like an AK-47 dump an entire magazine. For a couple of moments it sounds like WWIII out there! I found out later that a couple of hundred meters down creek is the property line and a hunt club is out on the loose! I'm begining to think that I should just pack up and head for the barn for my stand when I hear a "snort". I glance up and a doe is running full tilt towards WWIII being chased by a buck. She's about 100yds out in dim light and slowing down to a trot when I decide that she's ready to go down. Pow, I hit her, she goes down and the buck just stops there. I'm working the bolt on the old Mauser when SHE JUMPS BACK UP!? She runs almost right at me, I'm begining to think about that guy and the cow in "Kung-Pow" when she breaks off and hits the swamp. The buck still standing there looking at me. I raise up and take aim at him and he heads for the hills back the way he came. I decide not to shoot. So I wait. I can hear her crashing and splashing around the swamp. I'm thinkin' no problem, wait until she drops or 20 minutes and I'll go in after her, nothing in there but a creek and some swamp. yeah right. Finally I get up when all falls quiet and go out to the sight of impact. Lots of blood, good trail. 5 minutes later, less blood still good trail. 10 min. later, much less blood getting harder. 1 hr later specks of blood, in the swamp wet but easy to follow the trial through broken skim ice. At this point I'm noticing two things 1. The "creek" isn't a creek, it's a full on raging small river 30' wide and moving fast and 2. there's a buck standing right in front of me peering around a tree 15yds out. Now, I know what you're thinking, I've got one deer on the loose and I'm responsible for finding her, but on the other hand I'm looking at a real nice sized buck with only one antler (the other broken off) so close that I can see the moisture on his whiskers. Well, he plays "peek-a-boo" with me for a few minutes. Enough time for me to adopt a good shooting position and finally steps out from behind the tree, heck I could hear the "plop" of his hoof when he steped. Everything slows down, he steps out, I squeeze the trigger and WHAM he recoils and runs. I'm thinking WTF?! How in the heck can he be running when the grass looks like it's got more blood and hair than he does? He only runs for about 50yds and starts swaying pretty hard finally he drops into what I thought was a hole. I stand up and as I'm starting to walk the doe's path again, notice that she's out in the middle of the creek hung up on a dead fall. I get down to her and see that the "creek" is way over crotch deep (my limit on cold water) and realizing that she isn't going anywhere head off to find the buck. I can't find him. I'm about to go nuts when remembering that Tom's a waterfouler I head back up to the barn (a mile away) and grab his chest waders. Meanwhile the boss's boy was sleeping in the barn's apartment due to a stomach ache jumps up and asks if he can help. I'm like sure come on. We head back down to the swamp. I wade out and grab the doe, the "creek meanwhile is up to the edge of the waders and very cold. I realize that I have Tom's "old" waders on because it feels like water is coming in. I look her over and see that it was a gut shot and things look pretty green down there. So I "dress" her in the creek hoping to salvage the meat. 20 minutes later I'm washing her out when the boss and Tom show up. Keep in mind that the hunt club is still testing out old soviet block equipment a couple of hundred yeards away. I guess with the neighbors "music" they didn't hear my shots and since they hadn't seen a deer came to check on me. Their eyes looked huge when I explained my morning to them. I get out of the creek looking like a drenched rat, cold too. drug the doe to the edge of the swamp where a truck was waiting and dropped her off. Then the boss and the boy took off to hunt some more. I told Tom that the buck should be "over there", gesturing. He went "over there" and said, it looks like your buck hit the water. I'm like NOOOOOOOOOOO! I hit the far side of the creek fearing for my life since the hunt club was over there and looked for about two hours for sign. Tom stayed near side and looked with me. Finally he stops and says Matt, you need to give up, you gave a good effort, but he's probably washed down stream. I'm standing there thinking he's right but not liking it when that under the over hang he's standing on something is bobbing. I unload the rifle and scope it realizing that it's the buck, not twenty feet up creek from where I dressed the doe! We get him out of the drink and cleaned up, I had hit both lungs, I guess at that yardage the round didn't expand 'cause the entrance was the same size as the exit. Nonetheless, it was a great hunt with enough meat taken to keep me good for the year as well as give some to a needy family that Tom knows. Needless to say I just about threw out my back dragging them both through the swamp, so Sombody stop me before I hurt myself!!
I linked up with my boss at his house around 0430 for the hour long drive out to Tom's farm. Now a little background here. Tom's farm is like Valhalla for all the hunters in the hospital. He usually fills his four tags in the first couple of weeks of deer season and doesn't let anyone hunt out there. Tom's not really been deer hunting lately (getting geared up for duck season), but needed to prune down the doe population on the farm. So he asked us to come out and take a couple of does (only one of two any sex deer days). I asked him if bucks were ok, he said yes, but would perfer does. No problem, I'm not picky meat is meat. Ok. So we got on the road around five and headed that way. We link up with Tom at his barn and everyone points out where their going. Tom decides to put me in a permanant deer stand on the edge of a swamp and what he called a creek (I'll get to that in a moment). I shrug and say no problem. We all head off to our assigned areas. After wandering around for a while, I find my spot and climb the ladder. When I get to the top I hear the stand strart to groan and see nails coming out. I rapidly head for the ground and decide that perhaps ground hunting would be better, meanwhile cursing myself for not packing in my climbing stand. The sky starts to turn rosey and from down creak I hear turkey, ducks and then what sounded like an AK-47 dump an entire magazine. For a couple of moments it sounds like WWIII out there! I found out later that a couple of hundred meters down creek is the property line and a hunt club is out on the loose! I'm begining to think that I should just pack up and head for the barn for my stand when I hear a "snort". I glance up and a doe is running full tilt towards WWIII being chased by a buck. She's about 100yds out in dim light and slowing down to a trot when I decide that she's ready to go down. Pow, I hit her, she goes down and the buck just stops there. I'm working the bolt on the old Mauser when SHE JUMPS BACK UP!? She runs almost right at me, I'm begining to think about that guy and the cow in "Kung-Pow" when she breaks off and hits the swamp. The buck still standing there looking at me. I raise up and take aim at him and he heads for the hills back the way he came. I decide not to shoot. So I wait. I can hear her crashing and splashing around the swamp. I'm thinkin' no problem, wait until she drops or 20 minutes and I'll go in after her, nothing in there but a creek and some swamp. yeah right. Finally I get up when all falls quiet and go out to the sight of impact. Lots of blood, good trail. 5 minutes later, less blood still good trail. 10 min. later, much less blood getting harder. 1 hr later specks of blood, in the swamp wet but easy to follow the trial through broken skim ice. At this point I'm noticing two things 1. The "creek" isn't a creek, it's a full on raging small river 30' wide and moving fast and 2. there's a buck standing right in front of me peering around a tree 15yds out. Now, I know what you're thinking, I've got one deer on the loose and I'm responsible for finding her, but on the other hand I'm looking at a real nice sized buck with only one antler (the other broken off) so close that I can see the moisture on his whiskers. Well, he plays "peek-a-boo" with me for a few minutes. Enough time for me to adopt a good shooting position and finally steps out from behind the tree, heck I could hear the "plop" of his hoof when he steped. Everything slows down, he steps out, I squeeze the trigger and WHAM he recoils and runs. I'm thinking WTF?! How in the heck can he be running when the grass looks like it's got more blood and hair than he does? He only runs for about 50yds and starts swaying pretty hard finally he drops into what I thought was a hole. I stand up and as I'm starting to walk the doe's path again, notice that she's out in the middle of the creek hung up on a dead fall. I get down to her and see that the "creek" is way over crotch deep (my limit on cold water) and realizing that she isn't going anywhere head off to find the buck. I can't find him. I'm about to go nuts when remembering that Tom's a waterfouler I head back up to the barn (a mile away) and grab his chest waders. Meanwhile the boss's boy was sleeping in the barn's apartment due to a stomach ache jumps up and asks if he can help. I'm like sure come on. We head back down to the swamp. I wade out and grab the doe, the "creek meanwhile is up to the edge of the waders and very cold. I realize that I have Tom's "old" waders on because it feels like water is coming in. I look her over and see that it was a gut shot and things look pretty green down there. So I "dress" her in the creek hoping to salvage the meat. 20 minutes later I'm washing her out when the boss and Tom show up. Keep in mind that the hunt club is still testing out old soviet block equipment a couple of hundred yeards away. I guess with the neighbors "music" they didn't hear my shots and since they hadn't seen a deer came to check on me. Their eyes looked huge when I explained my morning to them. I get out of the creek looking like a drenched rat, cold too. drug the doe to the edge of the swamp where a truck was waiting and dropped her off. Then the boss and the boy took off to hunt some more. I told Tom that the buck should be "over there", gesturing. He went "over there" and said, it looks like your buck hit the water. I'm like NOOOOOOOOOOO! I hit the far side of the creek fearing for my life since the hunt club was over there and looked for about two hours for sign. Tom stayed near side and looked with me. Finally he stops and says Matt, you need to give up, you gave a good effort, but he's probably washed down stream. I'm standing there thinking he's right but not liking it when that under the over hang he's standing on something is bobbing. I unload the rifle and scope it realizing that it's the buck, not twenty feet up creek from where I dressed the doe! We get him out of the drink and cleaned up, I had hit both lungs, I guess at that yardage the round didn't expand 'cause the entrance was the same size as the exit. Nonetheless, it was a great hunt with enough meat taken to keep me good for the year as well as give some to a needy family that Tom knows. Needless to say I just about threw out my back dragging them both through the swamp, so Sombody stop me before I hurt myself!!
